Cauliflower Twice Baked Potatoes

Hey, guess what? There’s cauliflower in there (underneath all the cheesy, onion-y goodness). Health food for the win!

I’ve been wanting to experiment with cauliflower for a long time but it’s always scared me with its funky appearance and distinct texture and flavor. So until I figure out how to eat cauliflower on its own, I shall pair it with potatoes. Not a bad combo if you ask me.

These twice baked potatoes have about 1/3 of a cauliflower inside, but you really can’t tell. The texture remains the same as a traditional twice baked potato, with just a slight taste of fresh, steamed cauliflower.

What you need to know about this recipe:

– It’s super simple, requiring just 7 ingredients.
– It can be made dairy-free by using dairy alternatives to butter, sour cream and cheese.
– It makes a seriously satisfying side dish, or with the addition of chili on top, could be a complete meal.
– It’s cheesy, dense and extremely flavorful.
– Although I have no subjects to test on (yet), I bet kids would love these.

I served mine alongside some grilled chicken and steamed broccoli and carrots, but they would also go well alongside hearty soups, meat entrees or dinner salads. And, they reheat really well, so make a few ahead of time and then snack on them throughout the week.

Wash and scrub your potatoes, then dry and lightly coat with canola or coconut oil. Place directly on the top or middle rack and bake for 1 hour, 15 minutes, or until they’re golden brown and have a bit of “give” to them when lightly squeezed.

Remove from oven and let cool until they’re comfortable to handle.

In the meantime, steam your cauliflower over a double boiler (or in the microwave) for about 15 minutes or until tender.

When your potatoes are cooled, cut them in half and gently scoop out the insides with a spoon, leaving about a 1/4 inch rim. Add the potato and steamed cauliflower to a large mixing bowl, along with the butter, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and sour cream and combine with either a potato masher or hand-held mixer. Be careful not to overmix or the potatoes can become sticky. Add a splash of milk if it appears too thick.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Scoop the filling back into your potatoes and place in a baking dish. Top with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese (optional) and bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the potatoes are warmed through.

Serve immediately, topping with chives or green onion (optional). Cover and store in the fridge for up to a few days.

Comments

Yum!! I love that you combined the potato and cauliflower in this recipe. We like cauliflower a lot and finally tried whipping steamed cauliflower in the food processor, which sort of turns into mashed potatoes. I added garlic/salt/pepper/butter and WOW, it was totally delicious. We both loved it. Obviously not quite the same as mashed taters but such a nice change of pace for eating cauliflower! Will have to try this out next.

These look great! I love cauliflower (I can’t wait until it’s in season again up here in the Northeast!), especially roasting it. Well, roasting is kind of my go-to flavor-boosting MO with most veggies… :) I particularly like tossing it with lemon and curry spices first, then either enjoying as is or turning it into a roasted cauliflower soup. Yum!

Yuuuummmm! What a wonderfully sneaky way to put cauliflower into something so deliciously tasty. Cauliflower has totally been growing on me lately – have you ever tried the following? Cut a head of cauliflower into bite-size pieces, steam just until al dente and place in a baking dish. Mix together equal parts mayonnaise and mustard and spread over the cauliflower. Top with grated sharp cheddar and bake at 375F until the cheese is melty and bubbly. Seriously good.

Dana, I’m so excited to try these that they are already prepped and ready to pop in the oven for dinner tonight. It’s not even 4 p.m. yet. Now, off to plan a dish to go with these delicious taters. Thank you!

I made these vegan by adding some Earth Balance and unsweetened almond milk to the potatoes and cauliflower. Then I added some precooked onion, bell peppers, mushrooms and broccoli and topped some of them with some vegi cheese. They were so yummy! Because I made them vegan they were a little dry; we just try not to add too much oil to our food. I’m sure made following the recipe they would not be dry at all.
Thanks for the recipe!

OMG! These are seriously good! I like cauliflower, so the taste would not have bothered me at all, but the thing is, you don’t taste the cauliflower. What I found interesting was it gave the potatoes a lighter texture, though I like baked potatoes too, they seem heavy on my stomach after having one. These were just perfect, I used a potato masher, so the texture for both was just fine. I did add about a tablespoon of bacon ranch dressing, to get that bacon flavor of a stuffed baked potato. Yum, this will be a regular at my house.